Lost and Found
by LittleWhiteTie
Summary: "Keith?" Shiro's voice is barely a whisper, hoarse and wavering with disbelief. Conflicting emotions seize Keith's heart at the sound of Shiro's voice: utter relief in that they've finally found him; sheer horror in that they've found him here, of all places.
1. Chapter 1

"Keith?" Shiro's voice is barely a whisper, hoarse and wavering with disbelief.

Conflicting emotions seize Keith's heart at the sound of Shiro's voice: utter relief in that they've finally found him; sheer horror in that they've found him _here_.

Shiro is huddled in the corner of the cell, hiding in the shadows of the dim, violet glow. Though perhaps a better word for the place is _cage_ : a transparent energy barrier is all that separates him from the druids' laboratory.

The surrounding space is littered with tubes and chemicals and instruments straight out of a horror film. The wall is lined with glass pods – tanks? - and a metal examination table with restraints sits at the centre of the room. Several sharp objects loom overhead, a circular saw blade among them. Keith feels positively sick and volcanic rage bubbles within him, but he forces it down. _Patience_. _Focus._

Keith imbues his voice with all the gentleness he can muster. "Shiro, it's me. I'm here. We're getting you out."

He slides the microchip Pidge gave him from his glove and inserts it into the console on the wall. "I found him. He's here," he tells his team over the comm link, trying to keep his voice level. "Pidge, you're up. The chip's in place. Hunk? Get ready."

He returns his gaze to Shiro. Even in the dim lighting he can tell his complexion has taken on a sickly pallor, and dark shadows under his eyes stand out in stark contrast. He's slumped over and he looks so weak, so tired, like the life's been drained from him. "You came for me," he says more to himself than to Keith. His raw voice is filled with unease, as if he's unsure of whether or not this is real.

"Of course we did. We're here. It's okay," Keith soothes as best he can. "Hold on just a little longer, Shiro. We just have to wait for Pidge to hack this barrier, and then we're getting you out of here."

Shiro shakes his head ever so slightly. "No. She'll- she'll come for you," he croaks. _Haggar_ , Keith knows.

"Don't worry. Lance and Hunk are creating diversions. They're safe," he reassures him. "They're staying out of range, and they're cloaked - Pidge upgraded all the Lions with cloaking capabilities. If she does come, Allura's waiting right outside. She's been training - her magic, it's strong. She can take her or the other druids any day," he says with a slight smile. He's not sure if Shiro's following, but he keeps talking anyway. "Hunk's rigged explosives around the rest of the ship, so once this barrier's down, he'll set them off and we'll fly out of here in the Black Lion. Coran's waiting for us with the Castle just a few star systems over. So just hang in there. Everything's going to be fine."

His confidence is almost entirely a front – there's so much that could go wrong – but he has to keep it together when Shiro looks ready to fall apart.

Keith is wracking his brain for further reassurances and coming up empty when the barrier flickers once, twice, and then fades. He's at Shiro's side in the blink of an eye and immediately wraps his arms around him. Shiro collapses into him, clinging to him like he's drowning.

" _Keith!"_ Allura's frantic voice interrupts in his ear. _"The druids, they're here._ She's _here."_

Keith can feel panic rising within him, but he knows he has to remain calm. "Now, Hunk," he commands as he closes his eyes. _Patience. Focus._

He centres his attention on the Black Lion, ignoring the tremors that shake the ground as explosions are triggered across the ship. He reaches for their connection, blocking everything out to concentrate on her. _"He's here,"_ he whispers. " _Please, help me."_

There's a nonverbal response in the back of his mind and he knows she's coming for them. But it's not fast enough.

" _There are too many of them. I can't hold them off!"_ Allura gasps in between hits, and then the air crackles with dark energy. He can feel Shiro start to shake.

Haggar takes form before them in a swirl of black smoke. Her eyes glow dangerously. "You can't escape from me, _Champion,_ " she hisses. Keith whirls around, trying to physically shield Shiro from her.

"What do you want with him?" Keith demands, voice nearly shaking with fury.

She just smiles, her grin wicked and thin. "I'm impressed you made it this far, child. But no matter. It ends here." She shoots a bolt of dark magic straight at him, and Keith's instincts scream at him to get out of the way. He ignores them.

Keith's chest explodes with pain as the blast hits him, knocking all the air from his lungs. It sends him flying back, crashing into Shiro, but he's protected him from the brunt of the force.

Keith's still gasping for breath with spots dancing in his eyes when black energy sparks from Haggar's claw-like fingertips again. Despite his armour, Keith's not sure he can take another hit. Still, he holds his ground. She won't get to Shiro, not while Keith's still breathing.

Her dark energy reaches towards him, but before it can make contact a burst of vivid magenta light blasts her from behind, eliciting a violent shriek. Allura stands in the doorway, poised to strike again, her face a mask of fury.

There's a loud, crashing sound as the Black Lion makes her entrance. She smashes through the walls, her mouth open wide.

"Go!" Allura shouts as she blasts the witch again, but Keith doesn't need encouraging. He pulls himself to his feet, helping Shiro up with him, and he uses all of his remaining strength to get him to Black.

There's no time for gentleness, and as soon as Shiro's inside, Keith ducks out from underneath him, leaving him to collapse to the floor as he races to the pilot's seat. From Black's display, he can see the other druids closing in around Allura. She's panting heavily, exhausted.

"I need the rest of you here, right now," he orders over the comms. "Fend off the druids until I can get a safe distance away with Shiro. Lance, get Allura, and then all of you get out of there as soon as possible, got it?"

He doesn't wait for a response as he grabs the controls and flies Black away as fast as she can possibly go, desperately trying to get anywhere that isn't _here_. He urges her to fly faster, but she's slower than Red and Keith's connection with her is weak by comparison. He'd needed Black to help him locate Shiro, but he misses Red. He reminds himself that he'll be back with his original Lion soon enough.

" _Keith?"_ Allura interrupts his thoughts again and there's worry in her voicethat fills him with dread. _"The druids, they just… vanished."_

" _I don't see them anywhere,"_ Lance says.

" _Me neither,"_ Hunk echoes.

There's a sharp inhale on Pidge's end. _"Keith, they're behind you! Apparently, they can teleport and fly through space unprotected, Zarkon-style. They're on your tail and gaining. Get out of there!"_

But the Black Lion isn't fast enough, not with Keith's tenuous connection to her. They're out of options.

"Come find us," Keith tells the rest of them, and then he has Black use her remaining energy to open up a wormhole. He knows full well what the druids will do, but it's better than the alternative. He won't let them take Shiro again.

They lurch violently as they're hit by the druids' dark magic, but they've made it into the wormhole. "We're safe," Keith whispers to Shiro as they spiral out of control and are spit out of the vortex too soon. He tugs at the controls, but Black is unresponsive and immobilized. "They're gone," he says softly, watching as they careen towards a large planet, pulled in by its gravity. He gets up out of the pilot's seat and moves over to where Shiro lies on the ground. Keith holds onto him tightly, bracing for impact. "We're going to be okay."


	2. Chapter 2

Keith wakes with a splitting headache and he's sore all over. It feels like he's been hit by a truck. Which is fair, considering he was actually hit by a planet _._ Good thing for the Lion's incredible shock absorption system, and good thing he was wearing armour and his helmet.

But Shiro wasn't wearing armour and didn't have his helmet. Keith can only hope his attempt to shield him from the initial impact had been enough. "Shiro?" He shakes his shoulder gently. When he doesn't respond, he tugs more urgently. "Shiro! Come on, wake up!"

Shiro elicits a slight groan, and with great effort, his eyelids flutter open. Keith lets out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. "Shiro," he sighs, relieved. "Are you okay?" Keith recognizes it's a stupid question as soon as he says it. Of course he's not.

"Don't think anything's broken," Shiro replies. His voice is still raw, and Keith doesn't like any of the reasons he can think of for how it got that way. "…Overall, not great," he admits. "But better." Better than back _there_.

Keith helps him to sit up and feels him shiver against him. Letting up his visor, Keith can feel the cold air sting his cheeks. Black's heating system must be down, and they must have been out long enough for the residual heat to have mostly escaped. Without his armour, Shiro must be freezing.

Keith helps Shiro to rest against the wall of the Lion's cockpit before getting up to try the controls. Nothing. _Figures_. The comm system isn't working either. Glancing upward, he looks through the window. It's pretty dark out, but three moons in the sky reflect enough light for him to make out their surroundings. The terrain is rocky and there isn't much vegetation, but he can see some tree-like plants in the distance.

"Black's not working," Keith informs him. "The others might not be able to find us until she is, so we could be stuck here a little while. I'm gonna go see what it's like outside." Shiro gives a slight nod. He looks like he's about to pass out again. "Just rest up. I'll be right back."

Shiro nods again, this time letting his eyes close.

Keith exits the Black Lion and checks the console on his wrist. The atmosphere on this planet is thin but breathable, and while the temperature is cool, it's still within habitable range. They've been lucky, really –the planets they've landed on so far have had a breathable atmosphere, tolerable temperatures, and similar gravity to that of Earth (the gravitational constant of the planet he and Shiro landed on after their first wormhole incident was decidedly _not_ 25 metres per second squared – Shiro had been so out of it he'd probably confused velocity with acceleration – but Keith's not going to dwell). The gravity here is a bit stronger than Earth's, but he's still able to move.

He makes his way over to the small copse of not-quite-trees. They have a rough exterior that he can pry off, which ignites and holds a flame when he holds it to his jetpack. Good. There's a cave not too far away, and when he checks it out, it seems relatively safe. Relatively. It's hard to tell, especially with only a makeshift torch and the glow of his suit to see by, but nothing attacks him in the ten or so minutes he spends exploring inside. His standards for safety have decreased considerably since leaving Earth.

He hurries back to the Lion, not wanting to leave Shiro alone for any longer than he has to. When he gets back, Shiro is shivering with his knees tucked against his chest, his legs drawn in closer with his left arm. His metal arm is carefully held away from the rest of his body.

"Hey," Keith says softly. Shiro blinks up at him, eyes weary. "So, there's a cave not too far from here, and there's stuff we can use to build a fire. Thing is, it's hard to see, and we don't know what might be out there. It might be safer to stay here in the Lion, but we can't build a fire in here. What do you want to do?"

"What do you think we should do?" Shiro asks. His voice is weaker than it should be.

Keith considers. Shiro's in bad enough condition as it is. From the way he's shivering and curled in on himself, it seems like getting him warm should be their priority. "Move, I guess," he says. Keith will just have to protect him from anything that's out there.

"Okay. Then let's do that."

Keith's glad he trusts him, but he doesn't like the passivity in his voice. He wishes Shiro would go back to calling the shots. But Shiro can't do that right now. Keith needs to keep up the role for just a little longer, just until Shiro's well again.

"Alright," Keith says. "I'm gonna go out first and gather the wood or whatever before we head to the cave. I'll be back soon. Just sit tight."

Shiro huffs out a laugh. "Trust me, I'm not going anywhere."

As Keith strips the bark-like substance from the plants, he thinks back to the last time they were stranded like this. That had been the first time he'd seen Shiro let his guard down, not trying to convince him that everything was going to be okay. And really, that had scared Keith. He'd never seen him like that before, and he'd figured the situation must be completely dire for Shiro to be joking like that. And, well, ithad been. But Shiro had been opening up to Keith, trusting him and letting him support him. Before that, there had always been that strange dynamic of mentor and student, leader and follower, but they were equals now. Keith had always needed Shiro; now, Shiro needed him.

He gathers the sort-of-bark and plucks a few fruits from the branches he can reach - his wrist console tells him they're safe to eat - and he carries them to the cave. As soon as he's done, he hurries back to the Black Lion. He wakes Shiro up and feels guilty for doing so – he looks _exhausted_. But leaving the Lion is definitely the better call here. What little colour was left in Shiro's skin has been drained, and his lips are tinged ever so slightly with blue.

He wraps Shiro's arm around his shoulders, helping him up out of the Lion and towards the cave. Shiro leans heavily against him. Keith's not doing too great himself – he's still sore from the crash, his head still hurts, and his chest still burns from Haggar's attack. Not to mention that the strong gravity has been wearing on him, and it makes supporting Shiro's weight that much more difficult. They stagger over rocky ground, and Keith is all too happy when they finally reach the cave.

Keith ignites the pile of bark with his jetpack, and as soon as the fire's going, he strips off his armour and presses up against Shiro to warm him up. Shiro leans in immediately. It's not particularly comfortable – his body is like ice and he's shivering violently – but Keith doesn't mind at all. Shiro grasps his hand almost desperately, and Keith recognizes that he must be touch-starved, skin-hungry. Keith pulls him in closer. He needs this too. Shiro buries his face against Keith's neck, and they cling to one another like they're afraid the other will disappear.

After a little while, the fire and body heat take effect. Shiro's shivering subsides, and he drifts off in Keith's arms. Shiro's heavy, and Keith is stiff from the awkward position, but he stays where he is. Nothing could make him let go.

Shiro's breaths are already shallow in the thin atmosphere, but at some point, his breathing becomes more rapid, panicked. Keith can feel his heart beating double-time. Occasional gasps and choked sobs escape him, and it's obvious he's having a nightmare. He doesn't move around much, like his body is too tired to even thrash in his sleep, but he still shifts restlessly against Keith. "Please… no…" he hears him beg at one point, making Keith's gut wrench. He can feel dampness against his shoulder.

Keith doesn't wake him: it could disorient him, and that could be dangerous for the both of them. Still, it's killing him to be able to hear and see and feel Shiro suffering and to do nothing about it. It goes on for far too long.

At last, Shiro wakes with a sharp gasp. He pulls back, and Keith can see he has tears running down his face. Normally, Shiro would want him to ignore it and pretend everything's fine. Now, though, Keith's not so sure. He looks so fragile and scared.

Cautiously, he brings his hand to Shiro's face and wipes his tears away with his thumb. Trembling, Shiro leans into the touch.

"I- I'm sorry," Shiro chokes out. "I… I just-"

"You don't have to tell me," Keith says, shaking his head slightly. "Not if you don't want to."

Shiro nods gratefully and relaxes a bit. His breathing starts to even out.

"You should eat something," Keith says after Shiro has calmed down a little. He breaks open one of the coconut-like fruits he'd gathered and offers it to him.

Shiro shakes his head. "Maybe later."

Keith frowns. "Aren't you hungry? You look starved."

"I'm… still feeling pretty sick from that last experiment," Shiro explains softly. Keith doesn't know what to say. He sets the fruit down and grabs Shiro's hand, squeezing.

Shiro doesn't let go. He doesn't look at Keith, staring at the fire instead as he speaks. "She took me after our fight with Zarkon," he tells him. "Teleported inside the Black Lion, then back to their ship."

"Why?" Keith asks quietly.

"Three reasons, really," Shiro says. "The main one being so she could experiment on me. Mostly testing my connection with the Black Lion. Zarkon- Zarkon's weak, but he's alive. She wanted to learn about it so Zarkon could take full control of the Black Lion when he recovers."

Keith doesn't push, but Shiro can see he still has questions when his gaze flickers towards him. He continues, his voice quieter now. "She wanted to see if injecting me with different substances would strengthen or weaken the bond… see how it would react to things like danger or different levels of pain," he admits, pointedly not making eye contact. "She did tests to see what made me different. Opened me up again to see how I worked." Keith is lost for words. He feels sick to his stomach.

"Second," Shiro continues, pushing forward, "taking me left Voltron headless. …At least, she thought it would." He gives Keith a slight can't bring himself to return it; he's so _angry_.

"What was the third reason?" he asks, trying to keep his voice level.

"…She also wanted retribution for what we did to Zarkon. For what _I_ did to Zarkon. And to punish me for escaping before," Shiro says. "She wanted to prove her power over me. Break me down." He huffs out a bitter laugh. "It worked."

Keith tightens his grip fiercely. If Allura hasn't beaten him to it, he is going to _kill_ that witch.

Keith moves in closer so that their knees are touching. "You're going to be okay," he says as reassuringly as he can. He's not okay right now, but he will be. Keith will make damn sure of it. "We've got you. You're safe now." Relatively speaking. Just incapacitated in a dark cave while stranded on an alien planet, but Keith's not going to bring that up.

"How? How did you find me?" Shiro asks. "She drained my quintessence, keeping it low enough that the Black Lion wouldn't be able to locate me. Any time one of the experiments strengthened the bond, she brought it back down and moved the ship."

"That… explains a lot," Keith says. He thinks back. "We didn't know what we were doing at first. Just searching blindly. That's all we did for a while, but after a week or so, we started answering distress signals again. We still spent every other moment trying to find you, but there were other people who needed us too," he explains. Shiro nods in understanding. "The first few missions without you… they were a mess. I didn't want to admit you were gone, so it took me a while before I actually did what you asked me to do. It took me even longer before I started trying to bond with Black," he says, guilt running through him.

"The others, they were good about it, even Lance. They followed me, even when I screwed up. So I kept leading the team, and as my connection with Black got stronger, I started to sense that she could still feel a weak connection to you. And the more I connected with her, the more she could feel you. Coran called it _resonance_. He said that the more synchronized I became with Black, the closer my own bond with you – my desire to find you – would resonate with the connection between you and Black and amplify it." Despite his exhaustion, Shiro's watching him intently, fascinated and grateful and proud.

"But my connection with Black, it's still not like yours, or mine with Red. It still wasn't strong enough. We only found you because Allura was able to use her magic to bring us closer into resonance, using some sort of channelling device that Hunk and Pidge built with Coran. Lance helped too, negotiating with different planets to get the materials we needed. Everyone helped out. …But even with all that, it was hard to get a fixed location. There were a lot of false leads. Sometimes, Black and I would feel the connection strengthen, and then we'd get there and you'd be gone. Guess that was the jumping Haggar did. …It was a long time before we could find you."

"But you did," Shiro says, taking hold of Keith's wrists.

"I'm sorry it took so long," Keith apologizes. "If I'd done what you asked in the first place, if I'd started bonding with Black sooner…"

" _You found me."_ Shiro rests his forehead against Keith's, letting his eyes flutter closed. "You saved me."

"I missed you so much," Keith says softly.

"Me too," Shiro breathes. "Thank you for finding me."

"I wish I could tell you that I'll never let you out of my sight again," Keith says, though they both know he can't. "But if you're lost, I promise I will always, _always_ , come find you."

Shiro leans in, closing the short distance between them, and his lips brush against Keith's. It's the barest graze of lips, chaste and gentle. When Shiro pulls away, tears are leaking from his eyes, but he wears a slight smile.

As Keith wipes his tears away, his fingers lingering, he feels a slight tug at the back of his mind. "Do you feel that?" he asks Shiro.

Shiro's eyes widen slightly, and Keith watches as they brighten. "She's back. The Black Lion's back online. _I can feel her."_ There's so much relief in his voice, and it floods Keith's heart with warmth.

Closing his eyes, Keith can feel Black's contentedness. She's happy to have her paladin back. Keith smiles. He knows the feeling.

"Now that she's working again, the others will be here soon," Keith says. He knows their team will come for them. Just a little longer and they'll be home.

Shiro smiles softly again, and it's a beautiful thing. He looks over Keith's shoulder, off into the distance. "The sun's coming up," he says.

Wordlessly, Keith swings around to Shiro's side, taking in the reds and purples streaking across the horizon. Shiro's head comes to rest against Keith's shoulder, and together they watch the sun rise as they wait to be found.


End file.
